Why Change The Anime Script When Dubbing?

“Dang it, Gohan! This isn’t the Fourth Of July. Or America. Or a version of Earth where either matters!”

Previously in this set of videos from the Cartoon Cypher on dubbing I wanted to post they’ve taken a look at specific dubs: Cowboy Bebop, Ghost Stories, and FLCL. The first was a dub that even sub fans seem to prefer, the second a gag dub officially released, and the third something that seems hard to dub because it’s just so crazy. They may have more dub examinations and I’ll link to their channel at the end of the review so you can find out for yourself, but I’m not going to post their entire library and I think we all get the point by now. Each dub has their own requirements and their own critiques, both positive and negative. I want to pull back now and look at a more general topic, since the final video in this set (coming in two weeks, so if you’re tired of this discussion just bear with me a bit longer) is also a general perspective on the ongoing debate between subtitled and dubbed.

One of the complaints lodged by sub-only fans against the dub even existing is that there are changes to the script between the Japanese and English version. When we get to the Japanese Beast Wars intros next week, barring external events, you’ll see it’s not exactly a one-way street with how they approached the series. While it has gotten better in some ways it’s gotten worse in others thanks to simultaneous dubbing so that US fans can see a new anime episode almost immediately after it airs in Japan, possibly to ward off fansubs until the official release can be put out. However, there are other translation errors to be addressed, and as the host points out in this video there’s a good reason to address them, changes and all. Note that there is a quick nude scene.

You can catch more Cartoon Cypher on their YouTube channel. Next week in the penultimate edition of this series of commentaries we look at one possible solution to the biggest reason for changes, having to match the lip movements, and ask why you can’t just edit those. It turns out that’s not a simple solution either.

[…] in it. Namely the dubs for Cowboy Bebop, Ghost Stories, and FLCL. None of these, nor the videos on translating to English or altering animation for the sake of getting dialog correct should be taken as some slight on […]